Hagrids from early entry

[LawrenceFamily]

Hi all

We fly out Friday and have 3 nights at RPR. I’ve been reading up on here about the best way to get on Hagrids and consensus seems to be to arrive at the park early (at least 30 mins before early entry) then head to Hagrids via the Lost continent.

Does this sound right?

Do they let you go there before 8am or is this where to head at 8am?

Thanks so much

[Softy]

Personally queuing for half hour to get into the park and then queuing again for the ride is longer than I ever queued when jumping in the queue just before park closing. I’ve done that 5 times and will be doing it again in a couple of weeks time.

People don’t seem to take into account the time in the queue to get into the park when recommending this strategy.

We got there 15/20 mins before early opening once and the queue was back to Margaritaville.

About 95% head to hagrids. If we’re there for opening we go walk on Velocicoaster a couple of times, do forbidden journey and then the rest of the park is open to walk on.

[Rescuer]

Are you planning to walk in or get the boat? If you are walking I’d be aiming to be off that path and through the security gates with a decent margin of time.
I didn’t see it this trip but in February we walked in and got stuck under the second bridge in a massive line from about 7.40am.
If heading for Hagrids I’d aim to be at the turnstiles by at least 7.30am. Queues to the left hand side are nearly always less than the right and the middle.
You won’t miss where Hagrids is as 95% of the people will be heading that way. Gates open a tiny bit early and they check your hotel keys as you go through Suess Landings.

We did Hagrids early entry in July and the line looked massive but it kept moving. Be early and don’t look at the wait time, it’s there to put you off ( unless it says delayed). The wait times are generally inflated throughout the day. Single rider can work at times - we’ve been lucky and unlucky with that.

As above Velocicoaster is a brilliant early entry option too.

[gjdjud]

On Monday, our first morning, we were awake really early so made use of it. We took the garden walk from Cabana Bay that you can use from RPR. The security gate comes out by Margaritaville. It opens at 7am for 8am early entry. We were there at 6.40am. There were a few people ahead of us. When this opened we were well ahead of the people coming from Citywalk and were at the front of the turnstiles. 7.45am they opened. We were on the ride at 8am. Yes we queued but always at the front and didn’t feel we were wasting time. That strategy worked for us. I think timings are important. We were at the turnstiles at 7am. By 7.30am the queue was huge. When we came off the ride the queue was at least 2 hours.

[Gazpacho]

Originally Posted by gjdjud

On Monday out first morning we were awake really early so made use of it. We took the garden walk from Cabana Bay that you can use from RPR. The security gate comes out by Margaritaville. It opens at 7am for 8am early entry. We were there at 6.40am. There were a few people ahead of us. When this opened we were well ahead of the people coming from Citywalk and were at the front of the turnstiles. 7.45am they opened. We were on the ride at 8am. Yes we queued but always at the front and didn’t feel we were wasting time. That strategy worked for us. I think timings are important. We were at the turnstiles at 7am. By 7.30am the queue was huge. When we came off the ride the queue was at least 2 hours.

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great strategy for the first morning and that early wake up !

[CoasterLady]

Originally Posted by Softy

Personally queuing for half hour to get into the park and then queuing again for the ride is longer than I ever queued when jumping in the queue just before park closing. I’ve done that 5 times and will be doing it again in a couple of weeks time.

People don’t seem to take into account the time in the queue to get into the park when recommending this strategy.

We got there 15/20 mins before early opening once and the queue was back to Margaritaville.

About 95% head to hagrids. If we’re there for opening we go walk on Velocicoaster a couple of times, do forbidden journey and then the rest of the park is open to walk on.

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exactly, if you wait 2 hours before entering the park then queue 10 minutes for a ride, that is a 2h 10m wait not a 10m wait!


Personally I think if I did early entry I'd do everything else that's available while it's completely dead/everyone is waiting in a 'short' hagrids line. much better use of the cooler air

[Bellasmummy]

Think we’re going to stick with evenings. In February we rode twice on early entry mornings. Both times from reaching the park to riding was over 2 hours.

We’d rather get other stuff done and will watch the wait times and try to ride later.

If we’d never done it before we’d probably do early entry once.

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by Bellasmummy

Think we’re going to stick with evenings. In February we rode twice on early entry mornings. Both times from reaching the park to riding was over 2 hours.

We’d rather get other stuff done and will watch the wait times and try to ride later.

If we’d never done it before we’d probably do early entry once.

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That worked for us in Feb also mid afternoon. Last month not so much. We did single rider one evening and less than 30 minutes. I joined single rider another night but the line was massive so just left it.

We only did the early entry strategy once because Velocicoaster was delayed.

Would absolutely recommend the touring plans ride app for actual wait times as opposed to posted wait times.

Have a fabulous trip!

[m2k00]

Today early entry not great. Hagrid's closed from start of early entry due to to tech issues. Velocicoaster went down 10-15 mins after opening. So only Forbiddon journey currently open for early opening. Not estimated opening for either currently.

[Leebie3376]

Rescuer that’s really helpful re. your experience on morning times, thanks